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Posts Tagged ‘A United Kingdom’

It is quite amusing to see the current furore in the Media over the SNP and a Referendum on “Scotland leaving the Union”. It is akin to the nonsense expressed by Germany and France over “preserving the Euro at any costs…”except apparently doing what is required immediately to do so. My question in both cases, keeping the Union with Scotland and keeping the Euro alive is WHY ?

If Scottish people are feeling so “inferior” to their English counterparts that the “only solution” in their minds is total Independence from the UK, then, so be it. If Germany is far too successful and therefore in effect impoverishes the “Southern Europeans”, why not split the Euro membership into two, it is only common sense after all. But politicians do get misled far too often for no doubt for well intentioned reasons but in the end mislead themselves…

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Oh Lord, here we go again, yet another numb nuts politician trying to make a name for themselves by “Reforming the House of Lords”, this time its Nick Clegg. One day it might occur to the inhabitants of the House of Commons that just as a Liberal Government tried and failed prior to the outbreak of WWI, so too has every attempt since and for good reasons, the Lords works as it is.

This doesn’t mean that the Lords hasn’t been changed over time, it has and in many ways as is right and proper, like all living things, institutions need to continually evolve to survive and adapt to changing circumstances. The problem with the brainless reformers from the Commons is they want “radical change” so that they can say; “I did this…I bent this to My will !” How idiotic can you get ?

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At the ‘turning of yet another Year’ there was a really interesting article in The Economist recently about the continuing phenomena of yet further increases in US productivity, it is well worth a read even if it raises more questions than answers : http://www.economist.com/node/21542211

Of course it led me to consider a personal “theme” I have been developing and that I feel will become ever more important from 2012 onwards, right across the “Old” Western industrialised economies and the World at large, “Productivity” in the old sense, is no longer any kind of solution, new thinking is needed.

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The “in between Christmas and the New Year” does produce some interesting if rather odd articles in the “Media” that are not current news and have been sitting on some Editor’s shelf, waiting to be trotted out for times such as this “holidays and no actual staff currently working…” The following article about building a Heathrow replacement in the Thames Estuary being a prime example: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/nicholas-faith-boris-island-must-never-be-able-to-get-off-the-ground-6281804.html

But all that said, it did provoke a mild stirring in the grey cells and some following thoughts…

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A couple of recent stories, which may seem rather disconnected at first glance set me thinking about the way politicians “manipulate the truth” and whilst it is easy for the electorate to condemn them as “Liars prepared to say anything to get elected…” The real question I suspect should be asked of ourselves: “Are we being realistic in our demands and expectations of them ? Do we even listen properly or is our hearing both selfish and highly selective ?

There were two ‘stories’ this week that highlighted this for me, the Unison strike over pension benefits and Angela Merkel’s speech to the German Parliament promising to save the Euro etc… To my mind behind both of these events sits a damn big lie or, a rather large Elephant sitting over there in the corner of the room…

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Although not one of my favourite writers, Jeremy Warner in the Telegraph wrote an interesting piece on why right now, David Cameron is unlikely to be able to repatriate any significant powers from Brussels on the back of the Treaty Changes that Germany wants in order to support the Euro, a good article and worth a read. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/8910266/The-eurozone-crisis-an-opportunity-for-Britain-Dont-bet-on-it.html

With disaster almost inevitable due to the incomprehensible slowness to comprehend and then total inaction of Eurozone Leaders to meet the challenges, we do indeed live in ‘interesting times’.

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Although it was the “Comments” section of the Daily Telegraph that first got me started in writing my own blog, since the advent of comments being handled by Disqus, I don’t bother with the Telegraph that often these days. They do get an amazing number of people commenting on most articles but apart from one or two, they mainly seem to be a few shillings short of a full £ if not outright bonkers.

However, there was an interesting article by Benedict Brogan on Scottish Independence which is worth a read but has also led me to the Land of Loony Tunes… http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/benedictbrogan/100116330/the-union-is-too-far-gone-to-be-saved-by-cameron-or-miliband

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I have already expressed previously my view that David Cameron and his party managers laying a 3 line whip on this vote was totally foolish and ignoring it would have been far better, I am apparently not alone in this. Mary Ann Sieghart wrote a very good article in the Independent on just the same theme of “Cameron Picks a Fight when he doesn’t need to”, worth a read: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mary-ann-sieghart/mary-ann-sieghart-cameron-picks-a-fight-when-he-doesnt-need-to-2375093.html

What intrigues me over this most obvious mistake from a normally deft politician is just why he let this happen ? Could it be because he feared speaking the truth at this stage would be counter productive, even dangerous to on-going negotiations ?

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I cannot claim to be any kind of fan of the journalist Yasmin Alibhai Brown who writes in The Independent, she is one of those people like the equally awful Janet Daley in The Telegraph, that I read from time to time instead of wearing a hair shirt or sackcloth and ashes or, as a means of not just “reading the stuff I like”.

However, in reading her (AliBaba) today I was shocked by just how irrational and bigoted a journalist in a broadsheet can be, the woman is a total loon or else, personally envious of Theresa May for some personal reason or other as the start of the article demonstrates only too well, check it out, really sad : http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/yasmin-alibhai-brown/yasmin-alibhaibrown-we-must-defend-these-laws-which-protect-us-all-2368147.html

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The often repeated “common wisdom” concerning the Tories getting booted out of Office in 1997 was that following the ERM débâcle, they had lost their one trump card in the mind of the public even if those people normally voted Labour that the “Tories were good on the economy…”

Personally I never bought into this, Major had a tiny majority and a group of troublesome anti-EU MPs, I suspect that this disunity which made this Country look stupid plus they had been in power for a long time led to people wanting a complete change and a fresh start. A house divided will always fall and myopic politicians constantly riding their hobby horses are never an attractive sight…

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